WASHINGTON – Video released Tuesday shows dogs being force-fed fungicides for a yearlong pesticide test at a Michigan facility, according to the Humane Society of the United States.
The group says the video shows 36 beagles being tested for Dow AgroSciences at the Charles River Laboratories in Mattawan, Michigan. The laboratory’s parent company is headquartered in Massachusetts and has facilities around the world.
The Humane Society says the video is part of a larger investigation that took place between April and August 2018, focusing on both short- and long-term chemical studies.
“Dogs, who are known for their kind and loyal nature, are often used in these tests because they are easier to manipulate and less apt to fight back,” the Humane Society wrote in a statement. “Often, dogs are cooperative test subjects because the only attention and interaction they get are when they’re being experimented on.”
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The group says they shared their findings with Dow and have been negotiating with the company to have the 36 dogs released to them. Dogs that survive until the end date of the experiment in July are to be killed.
The Humane Society documented the case of one dog named Harvey they recorded during the investigation .
“Dogs in laboratories that test on animals are usually numbered, not named, but Harvey (number 1016) was an exception because laboratory workers thought he was ‘a good boy’ and stood out as friendly and ‘adorable,'” the Humane Society wrote. “Subsequently, you see Harvey with a big surgical scar: his chest was opened and two chemical substances were poured into it.”
Dow AgroSciences released a statement Tuesday saying they try to keep their animal testing at a minimum, but it is required for some regulatory authorities.
The Humane Society says that the dogs are provided to the lab by commercial breeders like Marshall BioResources of New York.
